A time capsule of the greatest financial mania in the history of mankind, told in real-time by regular folks and patriots. May future generations better understand the madness of crowds, and how power and money corrupt.

October 18, 2008

Think about the people of Iceland tonight. People who scrimped and saved and endured, only to have their life's savings and economy destroyed by greedy bankers on commission, and a corrupted and willing government.

There but for the grace of god go us.

Diversify. Paper money goes away. Diversify.

They do make some pretty groovy music up in Iceland. Here's Sigur Ros, who've taken over from Bjork as my favorite Icelandic act. Enjoy.

When PM Brown threw the "Terrorist Act" at us , he essentially worsened the situation. That man is a loose cannon !

We are in BIG trouble , no doubt about that.

As the result of just a handful of people , we now face the humiliation of borrowing from the IMF . We have been reduced from a nation of survivors to a nation of beggars in just a decade. Thanks BANKERS.David Oddson will be fired and living in the countryside soon :-)

We have survived on our own for a Millennium and could easily revert to our own devices , (with countless suicides of those that could not adjust (1929 )) let's hope it does not come down to that , it's looking likely , though .

"Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time, and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out."

I do understand what your post means about the whole cash is king and people are going to sell things for what they can get them for no matter what to stay afloat! I hate this b/c I feel like I have no chance at this game. It's feels like it's too late! oh well!

I wonder if the US government will, like the Brits, start using "terrorist" legislation to bully people.

Iceland was designated "terrorist" so that the government could take all their assets in the UK.

What happens when the USA PATRIOT Act is invoked to indefinitely detain, imprison and torture borrowers who walk away from their government-owned mortgages that are 4 to 6 times higher than what their houses are worth?

We have survived on our own for a Millennium and could easily revert to our own devices , (with countless suicides of those that could not adjust (1929 )) let's hope it does not come down to that , it's looking likely , though --------------That's it blame the bankers.

Aren't Icelandic women, per capita, the biggest consumers of all forms of pamapering?

Well, I do hope people ARE getting angry, we’ve been terrible at protesting, the Arnarhóll protest the other day only drew about 200 people - I was hoping for 50.000 or so.

We HAVE to get rid of the PM but maybe mainly the CB head. Him, soon, very soon! A political crisis and fighting for office might not be quite the thing at the moment, but soon. Soon enough that people haven’t forgotten, people here tend to forget very quickly and keep voting for the same corrupt idiots!

Keith, your taste in music rivals your perception of economics. Sigur Ros are one of the greatest bands ever. Just saw them in Montreal.

I read once that Bjork was the biggest industry in Iceland, even bigger than the national airline. Maybe she and Jonsi and the boys (who must surely be rivaling her now for wealth) can save their country?

Not so fast, friend. Marketwatch today says up to 500-600 billion going to be issued for money market funds which are used by businesses to part funds short term for a little interest before being used to issue payrolls, cover expenses...I read of other things which might be covered, escapes me at moment, check cnbc or MW..

Good Lord, it looks like THE WORLD IS DEFACTO BROKE AND THE GOV IS PUTTING UP MONEY TO PAY ALL EXPENSES FOR JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING FOR THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO..